The New Girl

“I’ve kind of been the ringleader for us interns so far this year,” Eric continued talking to the new (old?) girl. “I’d be happy to run you through everything we’ve been doing personally. Maybe over lunch?”

That actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, you thought.

“I’m sorry, were you just hitting on me?” Joy asked. “Because this,” she pointed at Eric and circled her finger to take in his whole being. “Isn’t up to snuff to even fantasize about me. Got it?”

Eric, for what it was worth, rolled with the savage jab. “Hey, no problem. You’ve got certain expectations, that’s fine.”

Maybe that ‘Red Pill’ stuff was actually helping Eric be a little less ****.

“Good,” Joy said. “Now move, this is my spot.”

“Really?” Sabrina asked.

“What?” Joy scoffed. “Have something to say?”

“Um, yeah, I do,” Sabrina said. “We’ve been working here for a month. Wouldn’t it be more efficient for you to find a way to slide into our workflow, rather than trying to throw your weight around?”

“What’s your name?” Joy asked.

“Sabrina.”

“Well, Sabrina. You might have been here for a month, but I’ve been an intern here for the last three summers. I’ve also finished my first year of Law School and if I’m right, you’re all still undergrads. So why don’t you zip those thin little lips of yours and listen when your boss is talking, or I’ll need to go let HR know that you aren’t working out.”

Sabrina’s face went hard. You’d never seen her do that before. For the last month in the office, and every time you saw her in classes back at school, Sabrina had a soft, expressive face. Even when she’d been her most upset last Monday in the copy room, she hadn’t gone hard.

It was kind of scary.

“Now,” Joy continued, turning back to Eric. “Are you going to move or what?”

It was a turning point. If Eric refused, you could all be on the same page. If she went and complained, you would all be able to show a united front. Gemma would obviously support you and Sabrina. All Eric had to do was not let this prissy woman play school yard bully, and she would get shut down.

“Sure,” Eric said. “A change of scenery is fine with me.”

Coward, you thought, then regretted it. Eric had helped you out on Friday, it wasn’t fair to label him like that.

Eric started shifting his work laptop over a couple of seats. Usually, or at least the old normal, was Gemma and Eric sitting at the two heads of the table, while you sat alone on the long side away from the door and kind of in the middle, while Sabrina and Andy split the other side. Now Eric was moving into ‘your zone,’ which **** you to shift over as well. It was closer to Gemma, which was fine, but him moving was making you capitulate to Joy’s demands as well.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Andy asked as he walked slowly back into the room. He’d been in the washroom a good twenty minutes, and you weren’t sure if he’d puked himself sober, or if he’d gone for a Hair of the Dog route and had a flask on him or something. He at least wasn’t looking sick any more. His eyes zeroed in on Joy, and you could practically see the gears turning in his head.

“Andy, this is Joy,” you said. “She’s a returning intern.”

“Oh, cool,” Andy grinned, then walked towards her. “Welcome back to the team.” Then he swept her up into a hug.

Now, in most other situation, you would have said something. Andy was clearly a little drunk still, and it was wildly inappropriate. The thing was, you had a front row seat to the look on Joy’s face as she went through shock, revulsion, disgust, and then grudging anger.

Andy ended the hug, obviously smiling. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Get the fuck away from me,” Joy hissed.

Andy frowned, but stepped back. “OK,” he said. “No need to be nasty.”

“If you ever fucking touch me again, you will regret it,” she said.

“Fine,” Andy said, putting up his hands. “I was just trying to be friendly.”

“I don’t think Joy appreciates friendly,” you said to him.

“I’m not here to be friends. I have plenty of friends. I just spent a month with my friends in the Virgin Islands. I don’t need to make friends with interns.”

That was rich, considering she was an intern as well.

Gemma returned from her coffee run shortly after Eric was finished shifting over.

“Good, you’re back,” Joy said. “I need you to go down and talk with Brad. Tell him I’m here and I need my laptop.”

“I have work to do,” Gemma said, blinking several times.

“And I’m telling you that this is the work you need to do,” Joy said.

“I’ll go,” you offered, both wanting to give Gemma an out form needing to follow Joy’s order, and wanting a breath away from the witch.

“No, you stay where you are,” Joy said, pointing at you. “You’re the only one who hasn’t said something stupid so far, so you’re going to show me what you’ve all been spinning your wheels on while you haven’t been supervised.”

Fuuuuuck, you internally groaned.

“I’ll go with you, Gemma,” Sabrina said, standing.

“It’s a one person job,” Joy said. “Stop slacking off.”

“I had to work with Brad for a couple of days early on because the laptop he gave me was fritzing out,” Sabrina said. “Better that we make one trip together than if we have to do multiple trips over a couple of days, right?”

“Whatever,” Joy said, narrowing her eyes. “Just don’t take too long.”

Sabrina stood, and you could see her roll her eyes when Joy couldn’t see her face. She and Gemma quickly left the conference room, turning back to look through the door at you. Both of them made angry, fist-gripping gestures towards the room.

You had to suppress your smile as Joy came around the table to stand beside you. “Alright. John, right? Let’s see what you nerds have been working on.”

She leaned down, and you were immediately aware of the cleavage of her dress being somewhere off to the right of your face, right at eye level.

You also knew it was a trap.

Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look!

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